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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24208657">Shadow Boxes on the Wall</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirteenRedVampireBites/pseuds/ThirteenRedVampireBites'>ThirteenRedVampireBites</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>9-1-1 (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Doctor Christopher Diaz, Fire Captain Evan "Buck" Buckley, Future Fic, M/M, No Editing We're In Quarantine, Queer Families, Unconventional Families, no beta we die like men</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:55:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,514</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24208657</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThirteenRedVampireBites/pseuds/ThirteenRedVampireBites</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a shadow box on the wall. It tells an interesting story.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Christopher Diaz/Original Male Character, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>181</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Shadow Boxes on the Wall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello lovelies! </p><p>This was again spawned by the enablers in the <a href="https://discord.gg/vmEWxeU">Buddie Discord</a>. It started with a conversation about Eddie going around grabbing people's hands because he wants to propose to Buck but doesn't want to tip him off, which turned into a conversation about how Buddie wouldn't wear <i>physical rings</i> which turned into a conversation about what they'd do with their rings and here we are! </p><p>Anyway, enjoy!</p><p>~Kael</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Are you sure this is okay?”</p><p>Christopher rolled his eyes, tipping his head up so that the motion could be seen. “It’ll be fine. The Dads are expecting us, even—even with them not being here to greet us in person.”</p><p>Tired from the flight, Christopher was in his wheelchair instead of using his crutches. Thankfully, the space between the driveway where the rental was parked and the ramp up onto the porch was short, because even rolling himself that far was pushing his exhausted body to the limits.</p><p>“The Dads will be back in time—time for dinner, so that means a nap for me. They gave permission for you to—to explore everything that isn’t locked—locked, since I told them how you get after flights.” Chris yawned as he pulled his keys from his pocket, rolling to the door and unlocking it before pushing the door open. “Cat should be getting in tomorrow—tomorrow with her kids. Ro will be here later tonight, and—and X will be in on Friday.”</p><p>“I’m still nervous about this. This is my first time meeting your family as your partner. In their space. What if they don’t like me being your partner? Or I do something that makes them upset?”</p><p>Chris paused in the foyer, spinning his chair to face the outside where the bags were being gathered on the porch. “They’ve met you before,” he reminded.</p><p>“Yeah. As your friend and roommate! And they don’t even know that <em>this</em> is why we’ve come!”</p><p>“Babe, it’ll be fine,” Chris assured, spinning back around in the foyer, and heading deeper into the house so the bags could be brought in. “We’ll have dinner, and tell them—them the news, and they’ll be happy about it. So, you can stop worrying. Now come on, I want to show you my room.” He led the way through the house, moving past the kitchen and dining room until he reached his room, leaning forward to open the door.</p><p>The room looked almost the way he’d left it when he finally left home after Med school for his residency at Walter Reed. The only real difference was that his single bed had been replaced by a queen with half a dozen pillows on it.</p><p>Chris let out a little breath, a small smile spreading on his face. Maybe the Dads already knew about his relationship.</p><p>---</p><p>There was a shadow box on the wall in the living room, the first thing that anyone coming into the house would see if they weren’t otherwise occupied. It wasn’t small, but it wasn’t large either, just big enough to catch and draw the eye.</p><p>The frame was purple heartwood, thin stripes of light purple breaking up what otherwise looked back. The design was simple, swirling vine like patterns climbing from the corners to the middle of the lengths. Some gold leaf or paint highlighted the rises of the vines, glittering in the light coming through the window.</p><p>Inside the frame was the more interesting part. Front and center was a large photo of two happy young men in LAFD dress uniforms wrapped around each other. It was obviously their wedding day, flower petals in their hair and the boutonnieres in their lapels giving it away. Below that photo were smaller ones with the same two men though the child in the picture changed between one to the next.</p><p>First was an image of a young Christopher holding a black board stating, <strong>Officially, my Dads</strong> with arrows pointing to the two men behind him. The picture looked to be in a backyard, one with a large vine plant growing over the fence. The little plate below the picture was engraved with Christopher’s full name, <em>Christopher Elijah Buckley-Diaz</em>.</p><p>In the second, the men didn’t seem to be too much older, but the baby in their arms was tiny in comparison, wearing a white onesie stating, <strong>Newest Buckley-Diaz</strong>. He was cute, a tiny thing with a flop of dark hair that matched the Latino man, though his eyes were blue like the frankly Viking-esque man holding him. The plate beneath this photo stated <em>Rowan Diego Buckley-Diaz</em>.</p><p>The final picture was of the two men, slightly older than previously with a young girl sitting on their shoulders, a banner held in the men’s hands. The banner stated <strong>A Princess for the Castle</strong>. The girl looked nothing like either man, obviously adopted but the love for her was clear on their faces as they looked up at her dark and freckled face as she had her head thrown back in laughter. The plate was simple, <em>Cateri Monroe Emerson Buckley-Diaz.</em></p><p>Perhaps the most interesting part of the box was the badges and rings hanging on either side of the wedding photo. On the left, the badge read <em>E.</em> <em>Diaz</em>, with the LAFD crest and 118 underneath. The ring was simple, a tricolored band with large bands of black and silver split by a thin band of blue. On the right was a practically identical badge, except that the <em>Diaz</em> was replaced by <em>Buckley</em>. The ring was a bit more extravagant than the other one, still tricolored and in the same colors, but the strands were woven together in a five-strand braid. Both rings were hung on chains dangling from small nails set in a peak so that the chains bordered the badges.</p><p>“We tried wearing them,” a voice commented from behind. “Not really our thing.” A hand dropped on his shoulder and he turned his head briefly to look back at Chris’ father. “How are you, Nathaniel?”</p><p>“Alright, Mr.—Buck,” Nathaniel cut himself off at the narrowing of the older man’s eyes.</p><p>“Mm, Chris still sleeping?” Buck questioned, and Nathaniel took a moment to study the man that would be turning 46 this year.</p><p>“Yeah, we had a few issues at LAX and it tired him out,” Nathaniel agreed with a sigh, thinking of not only the issues with the rental car but also at the gate agent’s booth with the woman behind them.</p><p>“I’m glad he has you,” Buck told him, looking up at the box again. “Chris has been happier with you than we’ve seen him in years. He didn’t enjoy his first year of Med school because of roommates, but when he moved in with you, he was much happier.”</p><p>Nathaniel flushed, giving a rosy hue to his dark skin. “I’m glad,” he eventually squeaked out, “I like making him happy.”</p><p>Buck briefly looked away from the box to smile at him. “Good,” he replied as he turned his attention back to the box.</p><p>“You said you tried wearing them?” Nathaniel asked after a moment of silence.</p><p>“Mm, we did. For six months we tried wearing our wedding rings,” Buck told him, a bit of a laugh in his voice. “But between forgetting to put them back on after a shift or forgetting to take them off before a shift, and then just the feeling of them <em>there</em>, it got annoying, so we replaced them instead.” He held his hand over for Nathaniel to see the tattoo that he’d seen briefly before now, but never had the chance to study.</p><p>Around his ring finger was just a simple thick black line with a small square of blue to break it up. But on his wrist when he flipped it over was a Maltese Cross. In the center, backdropped by a vertical ladder with oblique axe on the left and an oblique pike on the right was the number 118 in a thick font. In the bottom arm was a date in 2021, Nathaniel supposed it was their wedding date based on the picture of Chris below their wedding picture. In the left arm was Chris’ birthday. In the right arm was a date in 2023, Rowan’s birthday considering Nathaniel could see the ring tattoos in the photo with the baby. In the top arm was a final date, one Nathaniel suspected was probably Cateri’s birthday.</p><p>“The rings will stay up there until Chris or Rowan needs them,” another voice commented, and Nathaniel jumped as he registered the voice of Chris’ other father.</p><p>“Which considering how Ro and X have been lately, though they think we don’t know, it’ll be soon enough that Rowan takes mine,” Buck mused.</p><p>“Three years,” Eddie agreed with a snort. “Soon as Ro is eighteen, I guarantee it.”</p><p>“X will wait,” Nathaniel mentioned, having met the two younger men before. “They seem like the type.”</p><p>Buck smiled at the thought. “It’s nice to see,” he murmured quietly.</p><p>“That’s right, <em>mi amor,</em>” Eddie murmured as he pressed a kiss to the other man’s cheek before he pulled away, “Now, time to start dinner, so Nathaniel if you’d join us in the kitchen.”</p><p>Buck shook his head in amusement and held Nathaniel back for a moment, squeezing the younger man’s shoulder gently. “Welcome to the family, <em>mijo</em>,” he murmured, squeezing again before heading for the kitchen.</p><p>Nathaniel blinked, a pleased grin spreading on his face before he followed the other men into the kitchen.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/><b></b><br/><a href="http://thirteenredvampirebites.tumblr.com">Personal Tumblr</a> / <a href="http://crimsonswolfden.tumblr.com/">Writing Tumblr</a> / <a href="https://twitter.com/Nightworldlove">Twitter</a> / <a href="https://kate-lee-shadows.blogspot.ca/">My Writing Blog</a> / Email: thirteenredangels@hotmail.com<br/>***Tumblr may not work. Just a warning.***<br/></p>
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